Rwanda Advisory Board

Isabelle is an experienced social media and digital marketing manager currently working as Sourcing and Marketing Manager at African Management Institute Rwanda. She previously worked as the Chief Quantity Surveying and Construction Management at Real Contractors Ltd. She graduated with a Bachelor's in building sciences from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, and her initial experience in the workplace was all the more challenging. She had to master the fine art of female assertiveness in the homogenous male-dominated world of quantity surveying and building management; a career that was in line with her major in university but where the gender ratio was not in her favor.

For six years, she made it her personal battle to go against stereotypes that women are incapable of understanding technical concepts or technologies and worked her way up to the top of the pole in leading engineering and construction companies in Rwanda. After switching careers in 2016, she ditched the conventional career rules that one’s career has to match what one learned in school. Isabelle’s passion for social media is also fueled by her love for traveling. She lives by St Augustine's famous saying “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”. On top of her career, Isabelle has leveled the playing field between work and life.

Adam Kyamatare has over 10 years of experience from Government, non-profits, multilateral organizations and the private sector. He is currently a Principal at CRG Holding Company, which is a diversified group of companies. He was previously the Head of Strategy at Cogebanque a top tier Rwandan bank. He has also worked at One Acre Fund, the United Nations, and the Rwandan government in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Adam is a graduate of St. Lawrence University with a Bachelors in Economics and Political Science and has a postgraduate degree from the University of Leeds in International Business. In addition to being an advisor to Resonate, Adam sits on the board of directors of Prime Life Insurance, Société Pétrolière, and Gorilla Games. Adam is also an advisor to Roka Creative Studios in Rwanda.

Justin Ngoga is a Certified Cultural Intelligence professional, impact driven entrepreneur with extensive experience in talent development and cross cultural corporate training. After seeing the amount of cultural shock that both internationals working in Rwanda and Rwandans working in multicultural organizations were facing due to cultural unpreparedness Justin founded Impact Route in 2018. With Impact Route Justin offers corporate intercultural trainings, home stays and cultural immersion programs as well as relocation services.

Marie Claire Dushimumukiza is a seasoned sustainable development expert majoring in eco-tourism with more than 20 years of experience in Rwanda’s Tourism and Hospitality industry. She is currently the Country Manager for the United Nations Global Compact in Rwanda with the mandate to establish a local network of sustainable companies committed to upholding the ten principles of UNGC and advancing the SDGs. Prior to that, Marie Claire served as a Project Director at the Horwath HTL / Hanga Ahazaza project funded by MasterCard Foundation where she was driving stakeholder engagement and managing business relations. Marie Claire worked at Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in the Tourism and Conservation Department, she held several positions including Strategic Market Specialist in Tourism Marketing. At Kitabi College of Conservation, Tourism, and Environmental Management (KCCEM) currently IPRC Kitabi, she was the Director of Academic Programs and Research Development. As a Technical Advisor of Nyungwe Culture Village Cooperative (NCVC) adjacent to Nyungwe National Park, Marie Claire supports a community-based tourism initiative that originated from the recommendations of her master's thesis. Marie Claire is also the co-founder of Inzozi Africa Group Ltd, a tourism company that employs 15 Rwandans. 

Marie Claire worked on various national and international projects and her professional career was dedicated to sustainable development, destination development, project management, partnership development, community conservation, and Natural Resources Management as well as TVET training. She has extensive working experience with SMEs from all economic sectors, with public and private institutions in Rwanda, EAC, and beyond. Marie Claire is committed to inspiring, empowering, engaging, and co-creating with her team and key partners in order to successfully achieve collaborative actions. Marie Claire completed her Master’s studies in Tourism Destination Management at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands, and her Bachelor’s studies in Business Administration (BBA) at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) Rwanda. 

Marie Claire is the Author of a book published with LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, OmniScriptum AraPers GmbH, Germany on: https://www.morebooks.de/gb/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=+%09978-620-2-05106-4. She is also a co-author of an academic paper “Community Livelihoods and Forest Dependency: Tourism Contribution in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda "published in Frontiers in Conservation Science, section Human-Wildlife Interactions. Doi:10.3389/fcosc.2022.1034144

Aline is the President of Davis College, a Higher Learning institution dedicated to providing transformational, personalised learning experiences that cultivate future leaders with the intellect and character to solve Africa’s most pressing challenges. She joined Akilah (Davis first women’s only campus) early 2012 and occupied various leadership roles in Human Resources, Administration and Operations until she was appointed to lead the Institute in 2013.

Aline has been recognized as a subject matter expert in women’s education, youth employment and careers development. Among her many accomplishments, Aline spearheaded  the integration of power skills (“soft skills”) and careers readiness services into Akilah’s academic model to ensure the market relevance of the Institute’s programs and the impressive graduates’ employment rate. She holds a Masters in Business Administration with a focus on Leadership and Organizational Development from Oklahoma Christian University. It was there that Aline developed a passion for human capital development as a critical component for organizational development.

Prior to that, Aline worked at the University of Rwanda, College of Medicine and Health Sciences as a Senior Lecturer. She initially completed a Masters in Physical Therapy with a focus on the prevention of Non-communicable diseases from the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa. Aline sits on a number of boards including the Rwanda Convention Bureau, Ishyo Arts Center, Duo Constructions and serves as the Vice Chairperson of the Private Sector Federation’s Tourism Chamber.

Aline is a mentor to many young girls and is deeply committed to encouraging women’s ambition, empowering their confidence in setting life and professional goals and working toward achieving them.

Brice Gakombe has over 14 years’ professional experience in a variety of roles in the fields of financial inclusion, financial stability, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) finance, housing finance, agriculture finance and insurance, private sector development, and business development. He is currently a Senior Financial Sector Specialist at the World Bank where he leads several multi-sectoral lending projects and policy dialogue on financial sector in Rwanda. Before joining the World Bank, Brice worked with regional financial institutions in different capacities including Head of Commercial Banking, Credit Risk Manager, SME Investment Manager, and Portfolio Manager.

Brice holds a Master of Business Administration from the Oklahoma Christian University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the National University of Rwanda. In his free time, Brice enjoys reading, jogging, traveling and is a passionate of good music, especially acoustic music.